Lima woman has Monday court date in boyfriend’s stabbing death

LIMA — A 19-year-old Lima woman charged in the Sept. 25 stabbing death of her boyfriend will appear in Allen County Common Pleas Court on Monday for her initial pretrial conference.

Autumn Spears was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault in the stabbing death of her boyfriend, Stephan Kimble-Childress, 27, of Toledo. The alleged incident took place at the Lima West Apartments, 1855 N. Cole St., Lima.

According to the initial report filed by Lima police, officers were dispatched to the apartments at approximately 2 a.m. on Sept. 25 and found Kimble-Childress unconscious and suffering from obvious stab wounds. He was transported to St. Rita’s Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.

Spears claimed she acted in self-defense, but Lima Police Det. Steve Stechschulte testified during an initial hearing in Lima Municipal Court that there was “no indication of signs of abuse” toward Spears following the stabbing. Stechschulte said Kimble-Childress was stabbed “at least twice, maybe three times, and at least one of the stab wounds was defensive” in nature.

Stechschulte also said Spears had previously been arrested in Toledo “for admittedly stabbing the father of her child.”